Enviolo

The Challenge

Enviolo, a PE-owned developer of gear systems for electric bicycles, found itself in the eye of a "perfect storm" after Covid. Following the explosive growth of the e-bike market, market demand had dropped drastically. However, the commercial ambitions remained firmly in place. This new reality required fundamental adjustments.

Berend Kistemaker, CCO of Enviolo, faced a new commercial playing field. SalesQuarters helped his sales organization with several strategic questions, such as:

• "What does our customers' new situation mean for our sales organization?"
• "How does this new normal translate into our way of target setting and performance management?"
• "How do I adapt my sales organization to this changed setting?"
• "What is now the ideal compensation structure to optimally motivate the sales organization?"

The Approach

• Practical sessions, focused on the most strategic challenges: The collaboration consisted of ten sessions. We spoke roughly every other week for about two quarters.
• Practical sparring with fact-based grounding: What I found particularly valuable in the collaboration was that I could very quickly put into practice what we discussed, and therefore immediately get feedback on the result. So I was able to make quick progress every time. Bart's fact-based yet practical approach helped me understand my business more deeply.
• He often helped me by giving an example from another company. That's what happened there. Based on my story and taking A, B, and C into account, I could also think in that direction.

The Result

• Accepting and leveraging the new reality: The changed sentiment in the market did a lot to our customers, and to us as well. I was looking for a way to keep my organization engaged and productive even in this situation. One insight I gained was that it's about knowing which "movie" you're in. Whether it's a horror film or a thriller: once your team understands which movie they're playing in and what the new reality is, execution becomes much easier.
• Concrete implementation strategies: Bart also advised me very concretely and clearly on the intermediate steps I could take to achieve implementation. That sometimes also involved the internal stakeholder landscape and how to handle it. This had a lot of positive impact once you start executing.
• Organizational restructuring: For a consolidating market, in which we would get fewer customers who need to generate more revenue, Bart helped me answer fundamental questions well. For example: how we could best design our sales organization, and also what the profile and skillset of the various roles within the sales organization should be.
• New compensation structure: A crucial challenge for me was rethinking our compensation model. Sparring about your compensation and bonus plan was very valuable for me. I faced the question of how to set up my compensation structure so that it motivates the organization on one hand, but is also qualitatively strong enough to execute the commercial strategy on the other. The challenge: "Anyone can control, but does it also motivate? That's the hard part."

The SalesQuarters Added Value

• Focus on results - SalesQuarters is super focused on business results. The recommended strategy led directly to commercial results.
• Practice and theory combined - Bart has a great deal of broad experience and is skilled at translating proven concepts to your business, which effectively gives you two perspectives: you have your own practical situation, and you have the evidence for what works well elsewhere and why. That was really very valuable for me.
• Industry understanding and adaptability - Important was Bart's understanding that the passionate bicycle industry needs to be approached differently than corporate environments. A fully corporate approach or a typical "consultant" approach doesn't resonate with the people within Enviolo, and that's why Bart's empathetic approach plays such an important role.

For Enviolo, this advisory process meant not just course-correcting in a crisis, but a fundamental transformation into a more strategic, data-driven organization better equipped for the new reality of the bicycle industry.

Ready for more grip on growth in sales?

Approach your sales leadership decisions as investment decisions and achieve maximum returns with SalesQuarters. Contact Bart Dietz: bart.dietz@salesquarters.nl or +31 20 226 90 00